A pair of daggers and a contract
by JulsLovesBlue
Summary: When that godforsaken wizard came to my house asking me to come with him to free a mountain of a dragon for a bunch of dwarfs, I didn't want to accept. But the promise of a pair of mithril daggers was too much for me. Now I'm going to join in on a quest to fight a dragon like in the fairy tales. Only this time we aren't going to rescue a princess, we are going to save gold.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This is just something I've had sitting on my computer for a while, and I'd thought I'd post it to see what happened. I don't know if I will keep going, that depends on you guys. Review if you want me to keep going.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the enchanting world of the Hobbit, no matter how much I try to get to Fili with magic.**

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"No. No, no, no and if you haven't gotten the point yet, no."

I looked at the crazy wizard that wanted me to go on some suicidal quest with a bunch of suicidal dwarfs to reclaim some stupid mountain. "I'm not risking my life for some dumb dwarf that cannot let go of the past. My momma always told me that if something is lost and the chance of finding it is smaller the chance of getting it back, I should let it go. And I have followed that rule ever since she first thought it to me. So again, no."

The crazy wizard, who's name is Gandalf the Grey, looked at me with that stupid look of his, the look that made people feel like shit and agree to whatever it was that they had refused before. "Surely you would reconsider, Skylark. Your talent of slipping out of the most sticky situations relatively unharmed could be a priceless asset in our quest. Of course, you would be compensated for your trouble."

I wasn't buying it. No one was stupid enough to expect a dwarf, even worse a dwarf _prince, _to willingly give a thief any gold, no matter how much said thief had helped them. And I knew that, which was why I was still not 'reconsidering', even if the promise of dwarfish gold sounded appealing. And besides, it would mean going through the Great Greenwood, now called the Mirkwood, which I heard earned it's name with it's giant spiders, deadly rivers and misleading lights. The rumors say that anybody who strays of the path is never seen again. And even those that didn't stray would most likely not be heard of again.

But still... The thought of basically free gold tempted me like a bee to honey. I could do just enough to stay alive and then steal whatever is was that Gandalf wanted me to steal. "How much gold?" I asked. Gandalf smiled and I cursed myself for falling in his trap. "Not just gold, my dear Skylark, but jewels and some mithril maybe too." He said, his eyes twinkling all the while. Jewels... tempting, very tempting. I did so like me jewels, especially emeralds and sapphires. Rubies too. And mithril? Well, a pair mithril daggers would be nice. My old ones aren't in the best of shape, despite the care I take of them. I had had them since my eleventh birthday and I was seventeen now. I fingered my short hair and finally said "Fine, but if things get too deadly, I'm bailing. Deal?" Gandalf looked a bit disappointed that I wasn't going to risk my ass for complete strangers, but agreed. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of how I joined the Company of Thorin Oakenshield.

_- o -_

"Is Thorin okay with having a girl in his Company?" I asked Gandalf. We were traveling towards a place called the Shire and since the little house I lived in is even farther away from the Blue Mountains, which was where the dwarfs were coming from, there seemed to be no point in making them travel even further away from their- our ultimate destination. We were staying one night at the house of a friend of Gandalf, whom I was hoping was actually expecting us, since Gandalf was so annoying when he just barged into my house without even a hour's warning.

But as I was thinking, Gandalf had finished his calculated the answer to my question. "He knows I'm bringing a girl with me to the Shire, but he doesn't know that you are joining the Company." I whipped my head around to look at Gandalf in disbelief. "He doesn't know I'm joining!?" I shrieked.

He looked at me annoyed at the high pitched sound, but I was to busy thinking about the consequences of his words. Thorin Oakenshield didn't know I was joining the Company. I may not know a lot about him, but I knew that anybody wouldn't like it if some weird young girl turns up saying she was going to join in a dangerous quest to save their long lost home and gold. When I got of this blasted horse, I was going to kill Gandalf. Seemingly oblivious to my homicidal thoughts, he was smoking that stupid pipe of his.

I hate smoke of any kinds but the smoke of burning pine wood. Which was why my little home was built in the middle of a pine forest. So that in the winter, I had plenty of pine wood to burn. There was also a lot of wildlife in the forest, so I had enough to eat. I hunted using a small bow, a sling and some snares, but my main weapon were my daggers.

I had about fifteen small daggers hidden on my body at all times and two bigger ones, about the size of my forearm. The handles were worn into the shape of my hand and the blades were crumbling a bit. My trusty daggers were falling apart and I desperately needed a new pair. Which was one of the reasons I was going on this suicide mission. If I succeeded in stealing whatever it was that needed to be stolen, I was going to go looking for a pair of mithril daggers in that legendary Vault of Erebor. I'm sure they had a pair lying around and I was going to get it and my part of the treasure. At least that was the plan. But with my luck, plans are not really useful, since they usually went wrong. But I was going to hope that this one was going to succeed anyway.

I really shouldn't have bothered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: **I'm sorry that I heaven't updated in so long. I've moved from one country to another, am looking for a house in yet another one and I've just come back from visiting my best friend. I apologize again, and hope that you all haven't abandoned this story. This story, as all my other, is un-beta'd. If you want to become my beta and make sure that I write, PM me!

Also, reviews make me write. You have no idea how much they motivate me!

**Disclaimer: **As always, I don't own the Hobbit. I'm just making them dance to my tune!

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I was regretting my decision already. We had just arrived at the Shire, and we were standing in front of Bilbo Baggins' front door. It was round, and very small. It was also built into a hill. I didn't know how they did it, but the hobbits had the ability to build homes in the hills without them collapsing. The dwarfs did the same, but they built their homes in stone. That was more difficult to carve out, but it didn't need as much support.

We weren't alone. There were about eight dwarfs crowded around the door, all pushing in order to get to the front. Which led to them falling on the floor when the door opened. I snorted, drawing a small glare from Gandalf. What? It was funny watching them try to get up. When they finally managed, I swept past them into the house, and looked around for anything that was worth stealing.

I spotted some antiques, but they didn't sell as well as jewelry. People liked pretty stones better than old chairs. I made my way away from the dwarfs, and drifted further into the house. I was making a map in my head so I would always be able to find my way around should I return here for some reason.

I was small for a human, so I didn't have much trouble with the low ceilings. The doors were still too small for me to pass through without ducking, but I had good enough reflexes that that wouldn't be a problem.

I had found the guest rooms already, and I had walked past five panties, all stocked. I didn't know why one hobbit would need so much food, but I guesses it had something to do with they fact that they eat seven times a day. And the weird thing was that most hobbit weren't fat. They just kept on eating, and none of it showed. Strange creatures. But when their homes were threatened, they could be very dangerous.

I had once seen a little hobbit girl beat up a human robber with a doll, of all things. It didn't matter to the kid that the man was three times her size and could snap her neck with a thought, he was in her home and had tried to take her mommas necklace. The guy had ended up outside the little girl's home black and blue, with a bloody nose and a swollen eye. I had taken it upon myself to escort him form the Shire.

After that, nobody had tried to rob the hobbits. They didn't want to run into a little girl with a doll, or the mysterious person in the black cloak who dragged you by your collar out of the Shire, then broke your arms and every finger, then kicked you a few times in the ribs to make sure the message sunk in. Leave the Shire alone.

I smiled as I thought of that little girl, who had spotted me as I dragged that a-hole away from her home. She had smiled at me, and I had taking of my hood and smiled back. Then I had disappeared around the corner, and I never saw the girl again.

I was brought out of my thoughts when the noise that had been in the background suddenly stopped. I turned my head, and knew that it was the King Under The Mountain. Nobody else would be able to shut up twelve rowdy dwarfs. Well, Gandalf could, but I knew he wouldn't bother.

I headed back to the front of the house, taking a different but faster route. I came out at a small doorway that was half hidden by a rug hanging from the wall. The dwarfs were all crowed around the door, and Bilbo looked like he was good and sick of all of them. I couldn't blame him. I had passed a bathroom on my way, and it was stunk to high heaven.

I could see that Thorin, King Without a Mountain was already inside, looking around with disdain. Then he spotted Bilbo, and I could see that he would say something mean. So I did something I am very good at. I scare people by appearing out of nowhere. "So, you are the famous Thorin."

I slipped around the dwarfs, who were all looking at me in confusion. I could hear one of them whisper to another. "Where did she come from?" I shot him a sly grin, then turned my attention back to Thorin, who looked a little red in the face.

"I had expected you to be taller. But you make up for it with the awesome coat and the glare." His face turned back to a normal color, but his expression was one of confusion. "I know you are looking for a burglar, and let me tell you, Bilbo isn't one. He is a respectable hobbit who doesn't deserve to be dragged into your mess."

Now he looked even more confused. "I am a thief. I am a burglar. I have stolen more things in my life than I care to count, and I have never been caught, except when I wanted to be caught. I am quite sure I can steal something from a sleeping dragon." Thorin's confusion cleared, but then he looked at me in disdain.

"You, a burglar? Your a lass." I smirked at him. "A lass that just stole your knife." I held it up as he patted his coat, looking for it. He saw it dangling between two of my fingers, and snatched it from me. "I just stole your knife, and nobody here noticed, despite the fact that they were all looking at me and you."

I leaned against the wall next to me, and he looked ready to take my head off. My next words stopped him in his tracks. "You need an expert burglar. If you don't get one, you won't get your Arkenstone, which means no army to take down the dragon." I gave him a big smile. "Don't you just love the fact that you are dependent on me to save your mountain?"

He turned an even deeper shade of red, then he took a deep breath and seemed to calm himself down. I knew better. He still wanted strangle me, but he had buried the feeling very deep down so he wouldn't act on it. "So you are willing to sneak into a mountain inhabited by a dragon to steal the Arkenstone, risking your life in the process?"

I shook my head. "No, I am willing to sneak into the mountain, making sure to not wake the dragon, grab the Arkenstone and a pair if mithril daggers. Some jewelry, a tiara maybe. We'll see. But I am not doing this if I don't get to choose my own reward." Thorin considered this, then nodded. "On one condition. You don't get the Arkenstone. You try and take it, I will cut of your head." I gave a nod of my own.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how my part in the Company was made official, instead of Gandalf just saying it. Now we just had to get to the Lonely Mountain.

But of course, things couldn't be this easy for me.

_ - o - _

We had been traveling for about a week when we ran into the trolls. Or more precisely, the trolls ran into our horses, and decided that they were hungry. Thorin had sent Bilbo with food for Fili and Kili, who had been assigned to look after the horses. Ten minutes later, Kili came running into the camp, shouting about trolls and horses and Bilbo.

The dwarfs had rushing in, and had gotten captured. I got pissed, since the trolls had taking my horse too, and Nori owed me three golden coins. So I pulled out one of my throwing knives, and threw it at the eye of one of the trolls. It embedded itself deep into his brain, and he fell. He get back up again.

The second fell to another knife, and the third I took out by walking up to him, jumping on his arm when he swung at me and dragging one of my long daggers along his throat. I stayed on his shoulders until he hit the ground, then jumped off. I grabbed the soup the trolls had been making, and dumped it onto the fire. I cut the ropes holding half of the dwarfs to a pole, and they fell into the ashy soup.

Then I went to the dwarfs tied up in bags and cut them all loose. I did all this without saying a word. When Gandalf came back and saw that the trolls were dead, he instantly looked at me. I looked back at him with tired but angry eyes. "Thorin, I believe we should let Shelia get back to her sleep. She is a good tracker, and will find us when she wakes up. She won't need protection tonight."

I gave him a nod, and walked into the woods. I searched for the tallest tree with the biggest branches, and climbed up when I found it. I climbed until I reached about the middle of the tree, then put my back against the trunk and fell asleep.

I didn't wake as the sun rose, I didn't wake as wargs howled in the distance, I didn't wake as the horses ran under my tree and I didn't wake as an elf horn sounded. I probably wouldn't have woken if a dragon had flown overhead.

I finally woke when night was falling. I climbed down, and went back to the clearing with the three dead trolls. I followed the tracks to a cave, which I went into and I found a nifty elf sword. I took it with me, and went back out again. I then saw the tracks of rabbits and a sled, and knew that they had been visited by Radagast, the Brown wizard.

I also saw two dead wargs, and I hoped the were still alive. I needed the key that Thorin was carrying to get into the mountain. I followed their trail, which zigzagged and found out it led into a pass behind a rock. I knew this led into the kingdom of the elves. I grinned. I couldn't wait to see Elrond again. I wondered if he had gotten over the fact that I had stolen his circlet yet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: **I apologize for the delay. I am moving from Spain to Germany, and my current home doesn't have internet. I hope that in a few days time I will have internet, but I'm not sure. Also, my Open Office had decided to spaz out on me, and my spelling's check had crashed. It refuses to work. If you see any mistakes, please point them out so I can correct them.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Hobbit. If I did, there would be more cool, badass girls in it.

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I managed to sneak into the elven kingdom without getting caught. I headed to the place where I knew Elrond worked. I climbed up to his window, and slipped inside. I looked around, seeing several things that I found very interesting. I grabbed a few of them, slipping them into my pockets and then settled down to wait for the elven Lord himself.

He came in some time after I had broken in. He froze at the sight of me, then looked around to see what was missing. I smirked. He still knew me. "Give me back my circlet." I pouted at him. "No hello, how have you been?" He narrowed his eyes at me, and repeated himself. "Give me back my circlet." I got out of his chair, and walked around his desk.

"I don't think so. I quite like the way it catches the light from where it hangs over my fireplace." His eyebrow shot up. "You didn't sell it?" I shrugged. "You would kill me if I did. And you know as well as I do that I'll give it back to you at some point." I could tell by the look in his eyes that he did.

"Why do I get the feeling that you won't give it back until you lie coughing up blood on your death bed?" I smirked at him. "Who said that I'll be coughing up blood?" His head tilted until he was looking down at me. "There is only one way you are going to die. At the blade of some person you stole something from."

I pretended to be hurt. "You have little faith in my ability to run and not get caught." A smile formed on his face, and I knew I was forgiven for stealing his circlet. "Yes, you do have quite the skill in that. You managed to outrun and outwit my warriors after you were caught." I leaned back against his desk, smiling.

"Let me tell you, that was too easy. The most difficult part was choosing what to take." He nodded. "I have been training them so that they would catch you next time you visited, but apparently that didn't work." I gave him a crazy grin, then I grew serious. "So, have you seen any dwarfs lately?" He didn't face-palm, but it was close. "I should have known you would be involved."

I pouted at him. "I'm not that bad." He gave me the look. Again. I kept a straight face for a second, then grinned sheepishly. "Okay, so I am. But why would you care about me? So yeah, I saved your son from falling into the river, but why is that so important." His reply shocked me. "Because at the time, he couldn't swim. He would have been swept away and drowned before I would get to him."

"Oh." I shrugged, then gave him a sly look. "Do you happen to have a spare pair of mithril daggers laying around that I could have?" Elrond shook his head. "No, I don't." His eyes pierces mine. "Is that what they promised you, a pair of mithril daggers?" "Yep. I also get to pick out some jewels and a bit of gold. And you know me. I could never resist valuables."

He wasn't amused. "I know. You stole the most prized circlet belonging to the Lord of Rivendel, then proceded to pillage the kitchen. I think the cook is still plagued by nightmares of a demon girl wearing my circlet stealing his apple-pie." I laughed at that. "I knew that you had a sense of humor. I just have to dig deep and drag it out, kicking and screaming."

And there went the smile. Gone again. I suddenly realized that I had been in Elronds office for quite a while, and that it was time to leave. I straightened, and walked to the window. I looked back at him, and said. "See ya, Elrond. Don't worry, I didn't take anything that you care about." Then I jumped out the window before he realized I robbed him again.

_ - o - _

The rest of my days in Rivendel consisted of stealing food from the kitchen, pranking elves and keeping an eye on the dwarves. When the dwarves did their 'sneaky' escape, I was surprised none of the elves noticed. I shurgged. Maybe they were hard of hearing in Rivendel.

They were nearing the pass through the Misty Mountains when I literally dropped from the sky. Well, for them. I just let myself fall from the tree I was sitting in. "Did you enjoy your time with the elves?" They all jumped, and turned to look at me.

"Where did you come from?" That was the most thing I heard once they got over their shock. I heard some swear-words I had never heard before, that I stored in my mind for later. These dwarves really were inventive when it came to their insults.

"I tracked you into Rivendel, but I had a falling out with the elves, and I decided you would be able to take care of yourselves. So I waited until you left, and now here I am." Some of the dwarves looked ready to strangle mo for scaring them, so I walked ahead before they gave into the urge. I looked up, at the mountains rising ominously before us and thought _'This is going to end badly. I just know it.'_

_ - o - _

I swear, these dwarves had the worst luck in history. First the trolls, then the warg pack, after that the bloody stone giants and now goblins. Seriously. It was like they were cursed or something. I had been sleeping peacefully, dagger in hand when the floor disappeared. I didn't scream as I fell, but I did let out a few words that my mom would kill me for if she ever heard.

Luckily for me, I landed on top of the other. Unluckily for me, the goblins very much liked the sight of a female in their midst. The hands that transported me to some unknown destination were a bit more wandering than necessary. I maneged to get away, but was pushed of the walkway by a goblin that trailed behind.

We both fell, but again my luck proved better than that of the dwarves, and I landed on some giant mushrooms that cushioned my fall. The goblin wasn't as lucky, and hit the floor, hard. I heard a few cracks, although it could be that was the mushrooms. I lay there in the stinky shrooms, trying to catch my breath when I heard it.

A voice, belonging to a creature that clearly wasn't sane anymore. It talked about various things, most of which I forgot the second I heard then. But what I did remember was it dragging the body of the goblin down a tunnel, and a ring that was right it front of me. It looked just like a simple ring, made of gold. But my instinct told me that it was more than that, and I trusted my instinct.

So I picked it up, and put in my pocket. Then I made my way down the tunnel after the creature.

_ - o - _

Turned out, the creature was named Golem, and he was even crazier than I had assumed. We played a game of riddles, I won then he tried to kill me. I returned the favor, and succeeded. I then stared making my way down a different tunnel

After about half an hour, I found the exit. I walked out, and saw the dwarves a bit down the hill. I walked down to them, not even hiding. While walking closer, I counted them. All thirteen of them, including that stupid wizard. How he still had his hat was a mystery to me. I got there, only to hear Thorin accuse me of abandoning them.

"Before you accuse somebody of betaying you and going home, you should look behind you. I wasn't even trying to hide." Thorin spun around, a sheepish look on his face. But just for a second. Then the scowl was back. I was just about to make another comment about his fast mouth when the howls filled the air.

You have got to be kidding me. I was stuck with a group of dwarves that were cursed to always run into bad things. I looked back, and saw a glimps of a white warg. That was enough for me to start sprinring. I knew that warg. I had heard stories about it when I visit the village closest to my house for trading. And I knew that it was bad news. Very bad.

I ran like I had never run before. I passed all the dwarves until I was running in front of them. Then I stopped dead, waving my arm to keep my balance. We had run right to the edge of a cliff. I looked around, then ran for the tree closest to me. I climbed ar far as I could, and hid myself in the leaves. Didn't need to make myself a target.

The dwarves had the same idea as me, and climed up as well. I saw that Nori was in the same tree as me. I had grown a bit fond of him. We had grown a bit closer, with him still trying to steal from me and me still stopping him. It was quite funny. Then the wargs arrived, and and thoughts of amusment left my head.

My eyes were drawn to the white orc on the white warg. I knew who he was. "Azog." I heard Thorin whisper underneath me. Then I remebered the story Balin had told about Thorin and the Battle of Moria. He'd thought Azog was dead. Poor bugger. It must be a nasty shock to see your worst enemy alive after you had thought him dead for years.

Azog spoke for a bit, then the wargs started to jump up the trees, trying to get at us. That was why I had climbed so high. I was safe, sort of. Then I felt the tree start to tilt. Oh shit. I looked in the direction we were falling in, and saw another tree. I jumped to it, only for this one to fall as well. We all kept jumping, until we were all in the same tree. A tree that stood right at the edge of the cliff.

Then fire caught my eyes. I looked down, and saw that everybody was throwing flaming things. Then this tree started to fall as well. I held on thight, but my feet still slipped. I was now hanging from a single branch that didn't look or feel very stable. Then I something that made me want to groan.

Thorin was walking down the tree, which was hanging vertically. His sword was out, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was going to do something very stupid. And do something stupid was exactly what he did. He went straight for Azog. Moron. I looked away, and focused on getting up. I maneged to swing one foot up, then the other.

I looked up, and saw Thorin on the ground, an orc standing over him. Oh no you don't. You are my ticket into your blasted mountain. You were not dying on me. I ran over, pulling out my daggers as I went. I killed the orc with ease, and stood in a defensive position of front of him. Azog looked enraged. "A girl?" I snarled at him. "You are very close to making me angry. You really don't want to do that."

He paused for a second, shocked at the look on my face. I was sure I looked half crazy. Then he grinned, and made his warg advance. I waited for the last second, then struck. I hit the warg in the eye, making it roar in pain and swing it head. That took me by suprise, and I was flung away when the head hit me. I hit a rock with a loud thud, and groaned in pain.

I knew a couple of ribs were broken. The pain in my sides told me so. Also, there was a large amount of pain coming from the back of my head, and by the fuzzyness of my eyesight, I concluded that I had a concussion. My arms and legs also hurt, but they didn't feel broken. Most likely, I was going to be black and blue tomorrow. That is, if I lived that long.

Then I heard a human roar. I opened my eyes (when had they closed?) and saw Dwalin and a few others fighting the wargs and orcs. Blackness was creeping into the edges of my sight, and I knew that I was going to pass out. Then I heard something that made hope soar in my heart. The screech of an eagle.

I forced myself to stand, and gave a weak whistle. Then I jumped over the edge, hoping that I had been heard. The last thing I felt was the soft feathers of an eagle on the side of my face, then blackness consumed me.


End file.
